In Brief
OSE restructuring
Minister expected to herald cuts in jobs and funding today Transport and Communications Minister Costis Hatzidakis is today expected to announce radical changes to the structure and operation of the debt-ridden state railway organization (OSE). According to sources, the changes are expected to include voluntary redundancy for at least 3,000 OSE staff, a halving of the organization’s investment program and the recruitment of new management staff. Illegal immigrants 7,263 stopped in six months Port Authority officials detained a total of 7,263 illegal immigrants across the country during the first six months of this year, the Merchant Marine Ministry revealed yesterday. Most of these migrants had entered Greece from neighboring Turkey, according to the ministry, which said a total of 131 smugglers had been arrested during the same period. Warning shot A young couple escaped injury in Thessaloniki late on Sunday night after a unidentified person fired a shot at the car they were sitting in. The couple, a 22-year-old man and 20-year-old woman, were parked outside an open-air cinema in the neighborhood of Neapoli at about 10.30 p.m. when the shot was fired. It smashed the vehicle’s windscreen but missed the young lovers. Police suspect that someone was trying to scare the couple, probably due to jealousy. Drug dealer A 24-year-old man arrested near the northern town of Florina early yesterday morning after police found 2.5 kilos of cannabis in his car is believed to be a member of a cross-border drug-trading ring. Police chased the suspect after he failed to stop at a police signal. Road fatalities Three people were killed and one injured in a car crash near the Cretan port of Hania early yesterday. According to police, three cars were involved in the collision which led to the death of the driver and passenger of one car, aged 19 and 26 respectively, and the 23-year-old driver of the second car. The passenger of the third car, 33, was seriously injured. He was transferred to hospital and underwent an operation to remove his spleen. Zammit funeral Australian tourist Doujon Zammit is due to be buried in Sydney today, two weeks after being beaten to death on Myconos. Doujon’s brother Zeake, said the service would «celebrate the wonderful boy my brother was and the life he has had.» Four Greeks have been charged in connection with the 20-year-old’s death. Raisin trouble Inspectors from the Piraeus Prefecture prevented some 200 tons of raisins from China being imported into Greece yesterday after finding live insects in the shipment and deeming them unfit for human consumption. Hunting season Hunting season will begin on August 20, the Agricultural Development Ministry confirmed yesterday. The season will last until February 28, 2009, apart from the hunting of hares, which will stretch until March 10.
